The disclosure relates to an intermediate steering shaft for a motor vehicle. The disclosure also relates to a method for operating an intermediate steering shaft for a motor vehicle.
Intermediate steering shafts are generally designed such that they can be lengthened and/or shortened. In this way, it is sought to achieve that relative movements that occur between a driver's cab and a vehicle chassis during driving operation of the motor vehicle do not have an adverse effect on the steering characteristics of the motor vehicle.
US 2011/0098121 A1 discloses a device for coupling an inner shaft and an outer shaft which are displaceable in the direction of a common axis. Balls are provided between the two shafts. The balls are arranged in axial grooves of the inner shaft and in axial grooves of the outer shaft. Each row of balls is held in position by an elastic element arranged in the groove of the inner shaft, which elastic element exerts a spring force on a roller track formed by a respective axial groove of the inner shaft and by a respective axial groove of the outer shaft.
As a result of the requirement for the spring force loading of the roller track for positioning and holding the balls in the roller track with a relatively large spring travel, a large degree of play of the balls arises depending on the action of force on the roller track. Furthermore, the abovementioned device is not suitable for use in the field of utility vehicles and the associated material loading.
The disclosure is therefore based on the object of specifying an intermediate steering shaft for a motor vehicle and a method for operating an intermediate steering shaft for a motor vehicle, which intermediate steering shaft is inexpensive to produce, is highly durable and permits effective play compensation of those components of the intermediate steering shaft which are displaceable relative to one another.
The object is achieved with an intermediate steering shaft for a motor vehicle having the features of the disclosure. The object is furthermore achieved with a method for operating an intermediate steering shaft for a motor vehicle having the features of the disclosure.